Posted on 03/13/2017 10:49:38 AM PDT by Sean_Anthony
And Rand Paul too!
The word we get from Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell is that the American Health Care Act (actually it’s just a bill right now), is the bill. This is the ObamaCare replacement. Take it or leave it.
It doesn’t sound like that’s necessarily President Trump’s position. He spent several days last week in intense discussions with conservative members of both the House and Senate - as well as libertarian Rand Paul, who sometimes pretends to be conservative - trying to reach an agreement that will push a good bill forward to passage. What the conservatives most seem to want is a quicker halt to the expansion of Medicaid, which Trump seems to be open to even if a lot of Republican governors in states that went ahead with the Medicaid expansion are nervous about it.
Good.
I want Them to pass something, but I want it to be the right thing, or in lieu of that, as close to the right thing as possible.
Ryan’s bill is a steaming pile of dog crap.
If his position is take it or leave it, then leave it.
He will lose Rob Portman, Ohio, if they curtail Medicaid expansion, because John Kasich, Ohio governor, went all in on Medicaid Expansion and made Ohio very vulnerable.
I think he’ll lose Kirk from Illinois for the same reason.
IOW, that’s 2 senators gone. He’ll lose Murkowski over cut off of funds to Planned Parenthood.
That’s 3 senators down.
My guess, they’ll have to keep some level of medicaid expansion for a few years.
Repeal it or let it go bust!
Punish medicaid fraud with life in prison.
That’ll save a lot of money right there. Or at least a little.
I knew guys who didn’t mind doing a nickel or even a dime. It’s the price of their business.
But NO ONE wants to go away for good.
Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell pretend to be conservatives, but they are not even libertarians, they are Democrats in R jerseys.
Trump is negotiating with the conservatives? I don’t see why a conservative would have to negotiate with the conservatives.
Kirk was defeated
I’m beginning to think there won’t be 51 votes available for the bill, whichever form it takes.
The dirty little secret is the Chamber of Commerce and like-minded lobbyists LOVE Obamacare.
Congress-critters don’t like to bite the hand that feeds them.
I think the reason Rand Paul is opposed also is how much damage would be done to Kentucky’s welfare state under Ryancare. Keep the government checks coming says Paul.
As I posted on Jimrobs thread the other day, borrowing the “Buckley Rule”, I want:
The most complete repeal of Obamacare and the most conservative, market-based, least-government-involved replacement that we can have signed into law by President Trump in one year.
That provides plenty of time to review alternatives, rewrite what Ryan has proposed, and get agreement on the result by both houses of Congress before the midterms start to loom large. If the Republicans move too fast and muck things up worse, or of they delay and fuss and fight and don’t have anything better ready in about 1 year, it will become a major issue in the midterms and if we lose either the House or the Senate, you can forget about replace and repeal and the Rats will do their utmost to keep Obamacare in place.
So we have time to get it right, but we can’t screw around.
“Ahead of schedule” should be the goal.
Here's his recent letter to constituents:
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Rob Portman (R-OH), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Cory Gardner (R-CO) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) outlining concerns that the February 10th draft health care plan from the House does not adequately protect individuals and families in Medicaid expansion programs or provide necessary flexibility for states.
just get rid of the entire thing, free markets rule
On 60 Minutes in September of 2015, Trump vowed that everyone would be covered if he won. “I am going to take care of everybody. I don’t care if it costs me votes or not. Everybody’s going to be taken care of much better than they’re taken care of now.” Pressed for specifics, he explained that “people are going to be able to go out and negotiate great plans with lots of different competition with lots of competitors with great companies and they can have their doctors, they can have plans, they can have everything.” Trump reiterated his pledge that every American would get coverage at a February 2016 MSNBC town hall. “We’re going to take care of them. We’re going to take care of them. We have to take care of them. Now, that’s not single payer. That’s not anything. That’s just human decency.” “You will end up with great health care for a fraction of the price and that will take place immediately after we go in. Immediately! Fast! Quick!” he told supporters at a Las Vegas rally that month.
Kirks already gone. I helped make it happen.
[I think he’ll lose Kirk from Illinois for the same reason.]
KIRK was defeated by TAMMY DUCKWORTH (D) I say good riddance to him, but ILLINOIS got someone just as bad.
Kirk lost to Tammy Duckworth.
That is 4 right there that won’t vote for Ryan’s bill, so it’s not passing the Senate either.
Watching MARK KIRK go down was one of the highlights of the 2016 election.
1. Repeal. Burn it to the ground, effective December 31, so that current plans can continue until expired, and people have time to transition. How much time did they give us when it passed?
2. Eliminate employer tax deduction. Provide individuals with tax deduction for all health care expenses, whether insurance or on a deductible or for uncovered care.
3. Make insurance market interstate. Allow people to join groups for better negotiating position, such as employees of big companies or citizens of a certain city or members of Costco. Whatever. Employment is fluid and not the best place to put the health of citizens.
4. If (and I am not a fan but it might be something needed to mollify the RINOs) you want to be a big kinder gentler Republican, you can have a program to subsidize health care directly to poor people, the ones who this whole charade was supposedly about. You can set up programs at hospitals and clinics where with a card they get health care directly. Or you can subsidize their insurance, in conjunction with state welfare programs, whatever. It would cost a tiny fraction of what Obamacare cost the country.
What else do we need to do? Tort reform, look into pricing on drugs and procedures, work on getting health care back to a free market. Incidentals that can all be addressed later and that don't need to delay action now. Even Trump's inner city programs are involved, because if you give people education and get them out of the Democrat plantations, they will have the money to make their own choices.
Ryan wants to prove that he is smarter than Obama, that he can create a huge government bureaucracy that is a little better. Big deal. That has been the trap of stupid Republicans ever since the welfare state came into existence. We need to blow it up at the foundations.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.